Chess Moment · Puzzles
Chess puzzles, sorted by the idea
Twelve tactical and endgame patterns, each with twelve positions from easiest to hardest. Every position is public domain, drawn from the Lichess puzzle database, and opens on a real board in one click.
All puzzle themes
Forks
A fork is one move that attacks two things at once. Twelve public-domain positions where a knight, pawn or queen wins material on the spot.
Pins
A pinned piece cannot move without exposing something worse behind it. Twelve positions that create a pin, or punish one already on the board.
Skewers
A skewer attacks the valuable piece in front so the one behind it falls. Twelve positions where a line piece wins material straight through a king.
Discovered attacks
Move one piece and the piece behind it opens fire. Twelve positions where the move that matters is the one that gets out of the way.
Hanging pieces
An undefended piece is a free piece if you can reach it. Twelve positions that turn entirely on spotting what nobody is guarding.
Deflection
A defender can only do one job at a time. Twelve positions where dragging it away collapses everything it was holding together.
Sacrifices
Give material to get something worth more. Twelve positions where the strongest move on the board is the one that hands a piece over.
Back-rank mates
A king behind its own pawns has no door. Twelve positions where a rook or queen reaches the last rank and the game is over at once.
Mate in one
One move, and the game is over. Twelve positions to train the checkmate pattern your eye should find before it looks at anything else.
Mate in two
Two moves, and there is no escape. Twelve positions where the first move often looks quiet and every reply to it is forced.
Promotion
A pawn that reaches the eighth rank becomes a queen. Twelve positions where the whole game turns on one runner and the tempo to escort it.
Pawn endings
Kings and pawns only, and every tempo counts. Twelve positions where the win is a single square rather than a combination.
Where these positions come from
Positions come from the Lichess puzzle database, dedicated to the public domain under CC0 1.0. Player names and game links are not retained. https://database.lichess.org/#puzzles
144 positions · 4096 in the app · All twelve lessons